Russia slams ‘ideological agendas’ in UN peace missions

ISTANBUL

Russia’s Permanent Representative to the UN Vasily Nebenzya said that peacekeeping and political missions are straying from their original purpose, claiming that overloaded mandates and ideological agendas have eroded confidence between host states and the UN.

Speaking at a UN Security Council meeting on the future of peace operations, Nebenzya stressed that peacekeeping should remain focused on political settlement and creating security conditions, while respecting the sovereignty of host states.

He underlined that both peacekeeping and special political missions play an important role in overcoming conflicts but warned that they have increasingly faced “a crisis of consent” from host countries.

“Some missions have become a means of promoting an ideological agenda that is widely disseminated at headquarters, but clearly does not coincide with the values of societies in the deployment countries and their urgent needs,” Nebenzya said, adding that this has led governments and populations to question the usefulness of such presences.

He argued that peace operations should not take on tasks unrelated to the Security Council, including domestic governance, human rights promotion, climate change, and development.

“Disagreements arise more often when missions are saturated with tasks that are not directly related to the Security Council,” he said, warning that such approaches risk blurring the line between the responsibility of peacekeepers and that of sovereign states.

Nebenzya also criticized what he called a trend of replacing compact presences with large, multi-thousand-strong operations that remain for decades.

According to him, such missions risk becoming entangled in the politics and economies of host states, while their withdrawal can create new crises.

He urged instead a clear “division of labor” between UN missions, funds, and programs, with the latter focusing on long-term activities such as development and peacebuilding.